THE GREAT DEPRESSION
-
Upload
martha-washington -
Category
Documents
-
view
13 -
download
2
description
Transcript of THE GREAT DEPRESSION
THETHE
GREAT GREAT DEPRESSIONDEPRESSION
STOCK MARKET CRASHMay 1928-September 1929, prices doubled in valuebeginning in Sept 1929, gradual slide Black Thursday (Oct. 24)
largest sell-off in NYSE history
Black Tuesday (Oct. 29)$40 billion in stock value lost by Dec.
The Great Depression Response of bankers, Hoover and business leaders
Stock Market Prices, Stock Market Prices, 1921–19321921–1932
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION
Overproduction - Massive business inventories (up 300% from 1928 to 1929)
Lack of diversification in American economy
prosperity of 1920s largely a result of construction & auto industries
Uneven distribution of income and wealth - Poor distribution of purchasing power among consumers
Farm income down 66% in 20s
By 1929 the top 10% of the nation's population received 40% of the nation's disposable income
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION
Weakness of Banking Industry bank failures in late 1920s (farmers) many had small reserveslow margins encouraged speculative investment by banks, corporations, and individual investors
total money supplyclosing of over 9,000 American banks between 1930 and 1933 Federal Reserve system
Consumer Debt – middle class installment loans; buying on margin Overspeculation in Stock Market – by wealthy and upper middle class
Consumer Debt, 1920–1931
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSIONDecline in demand for American goods in international trade
European industry and agriculture gradually recovered from World War I Germany so beset by financial crises/ inflation that could not afford to purchase US goods High American protective tariffs
international debt structure
IMPACT IMPACT ON ON SOCIETYSOCIETY
Effects on Business & Industry
Corporate profits - from $10 billion to $1 billonBusiness failures: 100,000 between 1929 and 1933
GNP – $104 billion in 1929 to $56 billion in 1933Total national income – fell by over 50%
Effects on Business & IndustryBank failures
about 20% all banks (over 6000) between 1929 and 1933)over 9 million savings accounts lost($2.5 billion)
Bank Failures, 1929-1933Bank Failures, 1929-1933
Effect on workers and familiesUnemployment ~25% in 1932?
underemploymentpatterns of reemployment and layoffs
hobos“Depression mentality”
Effect on workers and familiesMalnutrition
Disease: tuberculosis, typhoid and dysentery.
City & state relief systems in industrial Northeast and Midwest collapse
soup kitchens and bread lines
Effect on workers and familiesWomen
Working - 25% moreNew Deal – lower payWomen’s Rights Movement - lowest point in a century
FamiliesHousing Stress - divorceHealth – disease, suicideMigrants - from South and Midwest to West
Effects on Farmers“Dust Bowl”
“Okies”
Grapes of Wrath
Effects on African AmericansHigh Unemployment – up to 50%: Last hired, first fired
Competition for jobsExclusion from relief programs
Help from the New Deal?labor unionsScottsboro Case
Effects on American Culture
Reactions of most Americans Effects on basic values (capitalism, democracy, individualism)
Alternatives: socialism, communism?Whom to blame?
Popular Culture and Escapism Frank Capra Walt Disney Gone With the Wind
HOOVER’SHOOVER’S RESPONSERESPONSE
Federal Response Under HooverHerbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Philosophy: limited government, individualism
Initial response?
public works programs
Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930)
Debt moratoriumInternational Banking Crisis (1931)- gold standard
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (1932)